I really am not trying to stir the pot here.

I'm having a real crisis of faith in the Democratic Party. After the elections in November, despite the shape the country was in, I was extremely optimistic. I had high hopes that the Democratic Party could reshape the country and get it back onto its feet after the disaster that was George W. Bush's presidency.

I no longer feel that way. Somehow, the administration and the Democratic Congress have allowed a Republican minority to completely dominate health care reform. Single payer was off the table before the debate even started. Now our President is talking about how the public option is just a "sliver" of health care reform.

Let me tell you my story. It's not as bad as others, but it might become so. I discovered a chronic medical condition over the summer and, after two hospital stays and various scans, had bills totaling a little over $42,000. My insurance has been dragging their feet, but they're caught: there's no way they can get out of it because I followed all the rules about seeing the primary care provider and being recommended to an in-network provider, etc., etc. But now I have a pre-existing condition. It is highly unlikely that I will have the option of staying with the same insurance provider for life.

This condition has a way of coming back repeatedly, and many people with it eventually have to have major surgery. There's not a insurance company out there that will cover that. This means that there's a pretty good chance that I will have to assume the full cost of any surgery, and become another medical bankruptcy. What do I have to look forward to? A career? Family? How can I feel good about having a career or children, knowing that only good luck will keep me and any family I might have from bankruptcy?

There will and can be no strong middle class until the grasp of the insurance industry on middle class America is loosened or eliminated. With the public option now dying, what's being proposed now isn't health care reform. It's insurance reform, and considering how the Democratic Party has kowtowed to them, I doubt it will have any teeth to it at all. The Democratic Party, despite all its talk, is apparently willing to leave me and millions of others hostage to the insurance industry.

Why should I not despair? I do not want to give up hope in this President or the Democratic Party, but it's getting more and more difficult. Yes, we can, but will we? I am not looking to stir the pot - if anything, I'm looking for a little reassurance. I don't want to be down on my President or my party. Someone show me some hope for change.

# Signed executive orders to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year, ban torture and end the CIA’s secret overseas prisons and define treatment of Detainees.
# Reversed restrictions on stem cell research.
# Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Reducing discrimination based on gender, age, religion, or race.
# Signed an executive order reversing the ban that prohibits funding to international family planning groups that provide abortions. Gag rule revoked (Mexico City policy).
# Creates the White House Council on Women and Girls "to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families."
# Signed a Presidental Memorandum extending federal benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers and announced support for the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009.
# Reverses U.S. position on LGBT Issues at the UN: At the "Durban Review Conference," U.S. supports language condemning “all forms of discrimination and all other human rights violations based on sexual orientation.”
# Signed executive order requiring federal contractors to offer jobs to current workers when contracts change.
# Reversed a Bush order requiring federal contractors to post notice that workers can limit financial support of unions serving as their exclusive bargaining representatives.
# Signed executive order preventing federal contractors from being reimbursed for expenses meant to influence workers deciding whether to form a union and engage in collective bargaining.
# Created a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners.
# Expanded eligibility for the refinancing portion of the Making Home Affordable plan to help Americans struggling with distressed mortgages refinance at lower interest rates, even if they owe up to 25 percent more than their homes are now worth.
# Established a credit card "bill of rights".
# Expanded loan programs for small businesses.
# Extended and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch.
# Expanded eligibility for State Children's Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP).
# Expanded funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners.
# Created a new White House task force on the problems of middle-class Americans, and installed Vice President Joe Biden as its chairman.
# Appoints Vice President Joe Biden to Oversee Stimulus Plan Payouts.
# Granted a reprieve to Liberian immigrants facing imminent expulsion.
# Directed military leaders to end war in Iraq.
# Allowing Caskets to be photographed when the return from Iraq with family approval.
# Released nine previously secret internal Justice Department memos and opinions defining the legal limits of government power in combating terrorism.
# On Arab TV Network, Obama Urges Dialogue.
# Gave a speech in Cairo engaging the Muslim and Arab world.
# Bars independent contractors from conducting interrogations of terror suspects.
# Granted Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba.
# Ordered the release of nearly a quarter of a million pages of records from the Reagan White House that were kept from the public during a lengthy review by President George W. Bush.
# Restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program.
# Released presidential records.
# Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
# Pushed for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors.
# Invites gay families to the Easter Egg Roll as part of the Obama administration's outreach to diverse communities.
# Created a White House Office on Urban Policy.
# Increased funding for the NEA.
# Appointed an assistant to the president for science and technology policy.
# Funded a major expansion of AmeriCorps.
# Banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees.
# Investment in all types of alternative energy.
# Enacted tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars.
# Support for high-speed rail.
# Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes.
# Extended unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits.
# Created the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers to help auto industry workers transition to new manufacturing opportunities, including jobs in alternative energy.
# Stopped raids on medical marijuana dispensers.
# Nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic to ever serve on the Supreme Court.
# Appointed more than 60 openly LGBT persons to positions in the executive branch.
# Issues Presidential Proclamation for Pride, proclaiming June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.
# Signed a mercury reduction pact with 140 other nations.
# Signed the Weapons System Acquisition Reform Act to curb wasteful spending by the Pentagon. Intended to price contracts and budgets lower; may potentially save billions of dollars in defense.
# Signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, which serves to protect two million acres of land and creates a new system of land conservation for the Bureau of Land Management.
# Phase out government payments to crop producers making more than $500,000 a year and eliminates subsidies for cotton storage to help trim the U.S. budget deficit.
# Cut funding for a proposed U.S. nuclear storage facility at Yucca Mountain.
# Restored Endangered Species Act Provision requiring U.S. agencies consult with independent federal experts to determine if their actions might harm threatened and endangered species.
# Orders The Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration "to protect and restore the health, heritage, natural resources, and social and economic value of the Nation's largest estuarine ecosystem and the natural sustainability of its watershed."
# Signed the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act designating two million additional acres of public wilderness areas the highest level of government protection from logging and other forms of commercial use and development.
# Signed the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act which will expedite the search for cures and treatments for millions of Americans living with paralysis caused by spinal cord injury, stroke, MS, Parkinson's and many other diseases and disorders.
# Established The Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record, a new system for updating medical records of servicemen and women both during and after their military careers.
# Established the White House Office of Health Reform
# Created new and stronger safety standards to safeguard the country's food supply.

and

# Got his daughters a new puppy!


What the Nay Sayer don't get is it's not about them. Don't be a Nay Sayer.

When we get health care plan ending insurance discrimination I will have everything I've wanted.

IF anything happens

Things are going to have to get MUCH worse before they get better.

And I honestly don't know what the fuck we're going to do about this loud, ignorant minority insistent on keeping us in the Dark Ages.

If the Democrats fail to deliver, they lose an entire generation of voters. Those voters have already rejected the Republicans. Where do they go if the Democrats fail to deliver.

If Obama can't follow though on his proposals, I don't think we have the time or resources to recover. WE're past thepoint where these things can wait; we're on a down hill slide.

unfortunately...

The biggest point is, he did so in 2007, over two years ago.

I agree, if the Democrats fail here, they have squandered the opportunity to dominate American politics for at least two generations. The REpublicans will swiftly pick up the slack and take over.

There may be a waiting period, but after that you can be covered.
And hope you never lose your job.

And fight like hell for real reform. All of the current Democratic proposals include reform of the private insurance industry that will bar exclusions and rescissions, prevent exclusionary pricing, and force the industry to cover everyone at something approaching reasonable or at least non-discriminatory pricing. Don't lose faith. Don't buy into the defeatists who are aligning themselves with the pinhead gun toting radical right because this reform is not single payer. There is real change being proposed and that is why the right is so against it that they have put armed thugs out on the street.

but you forgot the sarcasm tag...

"Right now: find an employer with a no exclusions group policy"

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

as if "find an employer" wasn't funny enough on it's own! :rofl: :rofl:

for pre-existing conditions. For example, mine. Frequently they come with a six month waiting period.

The OP wasn't joking, and neither was I. I don't find the OP's situation funny at all. If you have a better suggestion perhaps you would like to share it?

and not really a suggestion at all.

good for you.

You have no knowledge of the OP's employability. Nor do I. I was simply responding to the OP's fear that the OP could never be insured again. Many group policies are no exclusion. I was covered under my own insurance for many years as a self employed person and I purchased that insurance through an association that provided group health insurance. It was unbelievably expensive, but it was a no exclusion group insurance policy.

Would you like a shovel?

and no suggestion at all.

You have no idea what the OP's employability is. just because the unemployment rate is hovering around 10% does not mean that nobody can get a job or nobody should change jobs. Your theory that "telling someone to find a new employer in this economy is just plain stupid" is not terribly bright itself. I guess it takes one idiot to spot another, eh?

The OP stated a fear of perpetual uninsurability and appeared to be unaware that that is not necessarily the case.

Do you have anything other than insults to add?

The offer of a shovel still stands.

I have a pre-existing condition so it's always been an issue for me. I just found out that employer plans, in order to be qualified for the tax deduction, can't have permanent previously existing condition exclusions.

But you're right, this is not the time to find such an employer.

I mean, I could barely believe what I was hearing from Keith and Rachel last night, and that disbelief and outrage will be felt everywhere. Sure, it might bring a few more back to the repub side, but more over it will help blow the cover off of the two party monopoly once it's obvious that out of those two name brands, neither, in any cumulative sense, serves The People first and foremost. And as harsh as that apparently is for some to face, at least it allows individuals to start from a fresh perspective, and one not aligned with illusory bias.

He's the opposite of LBJ. He DOESN'T know how to get things done in Washington. He still thinks he's running for office and trying to be Mister Everything to everybody.

You're the president, Mr. Obama. Act like it. LEAD!

Yeah, Obama has to quit worrying about being liked....

Medicare and the War on Poverty would not have happened otherwise.

He is not yet acted like a "leader".

# Signed executive orders to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year, ban torture and end the CIA’s secret overseas prisons and define treatment of Detainees.
# Reversed restrictions on stem cell research.
# Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Reducing discrimination based on gender, age, religion, or race.
# Signed an executive order reversing the ban that prohibits funding to international family planning groups that provide abortions. Gag rule revoked (Mexico City policy).
# Creates the White House Council on Women and Girls "to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families."
# Signed a Presidental Memorandum extending federal benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers and announced support for the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009.
# Reverses U.S. position on LGBT Issues at the UN: At the "Durban Review Conference," U.S. supports language condemning “all forms of discrimination and all other human rights violations based on sexual orientation.”
# Signed executive order requiring federal contractors to offer jobs to current workers when contracts change.
# Reversed a Bush order requiring federal contractors to post notice that workers can limit financial support of unions serving as their exclusive bargaining representatives.
# Signed executive order preventing federal contractors from being reimbursed for expenses meant to influence workers deciding whether to form a union and engage in collective bargaining.
# Created a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners.
# Expanded eligibility for the refinancing portion of the Making Home Affordable plan to help Americans struggling with distressed mortgages refinance at lower interest rates, even if they owe up to 25 percent more than their homes are now worth.
# Established a credit card "bill of rights".
# Expanded loan programs for small businesses.
# Extended and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch.
# Expanded eligibility for State Children's Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP).
# Expanded funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners.
# Created a new White House task force on the problems of middle-class Americans, and installed Vice President Joe Biden as its chairman.
# Appoints Vice President Joe Biden to Oversee Stimulus Plan Payouts.
# Granted a reprieve to Liberian immigrants facing imminent expulsion.
# Directed military leaders to end war in Iraq.
# Allowing Caskets to be photographed when the return from Iraq with family approval.
# Released nine previously secret internal Justice Department memos and opinions defining the legal limits of government power in combating terrorism.
# On Arab TV Network, Obama Urges Dialogue.
# Gave a speech in Cairo engaging the Muslim and Arab world.
# Bars independent contractors from conducting interrogations of terror suspects.
# Granted Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba.
# Ordered the release of nearly a quarter of a million pages of records from the Reagan White House that were kept from the public during a lengthy review by President George W. Bush.
# Restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program.
# Released presidential records.
# Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
# Pushed for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors.
# Invites gay families to the Easter Egg Roll as part of the Obama administration's outreach to diverse communities.
# Created a White House Office on Urban Policy.
# Increased funding for the NEA.
# Appointed an assistant to the president for science and technology policy.
# Funded a major expansion of AmeriCorps.
# Banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees.
# Investment in all types of alternative energy.
# Enacted tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars.
# Support for high-speed rail.
# Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes.
# Extended unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits.
# Created the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers to help auto industry workers transition to new manufacturing opportunities, including jobs in alternative energy.
# Stopped raids on medical marijuana dispensers.
# Nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic to ever serve on the Supreme Court.
# Appointed more than 60 openly LGBT persons to positions in the executive branch.
# Issues Presidential Proclamation for Pride, proclaiming June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.
# Signed a mercury reduction pact with 140 other nations.
# Signed the Weapons System Acquisition Reform Act to curb wasteful spending by the Pentagon. Intended to price contracts and budgets lower; may potentially save billions of dollars in defense.
# Signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, which serves to protect two million acres of land and creates a new system of land conservation for the Bureau of Land Management.
# Phase out government payments to crop producers making more than $500,000 a year and eliminates subsidies for cotton storage to help trim the U.S. budget deficit.
# Cut funding for a proposed U.S. nuclear storage facility at Yucca Mountain.
# Restored Endangered Species Act Provision requiring U.S. agencies consult with independent federal experts to determine if their actions might harm threatened and endangered species.
# Orders The Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration "to protect and restore the health, heritage, natural resources, and social and economic value of the Nation's largest estuarine ecosystem and the natural sustainability of its watershed."
# Signed the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act designating two million additional acres of public wilderness areas the highest level of government protection from logging and other forms of commercial use and development.
# Signed the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act which will expedite the search for cures and treatments for millions of Americans living with paralysis caused by spinal cord injury, stroke, MS, Parkinson's and many other diseases and disorders.
# Established The Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record, a new system for updating medical records of servicemen and women both during and after their military careers.
# Established the White House Office of Health Reform
# Created new and stronger safety standards to safeguard the country's food supply.

and

# Got his daughters a new puppy!


And his first 100 days? What a slacker!!

Shifting the war from Iraq to Afghanistan or undoing Bush's environmental vadalism or giving more money to the banks doesn't do a thing for health care.

First things first. That "republican minority" is not the real problem. They were always exactly what they are now, and we can count on them to oppose any significant reforms or improvements in U.S. policy. The fact that they're in the minority only serves to highlight the degree to which they are not the problem.

The real problem is in fact the democratic party. With only a few exceptions, democratic representatives and senators are worse than republicans because their bending over for the corporate class is not as expected as republicans. We can COUNT on the republicans to be enemies of reform, but it's damned surprising to learn that the real enemies-- the ones that count in 2009-- are democrats, not republicans. The ones who will destroy this opportunity to reform U.S. policy in a dozen different areas are the democrats who serve the interests of corporations first, empty narcissistic jingoist nationalism second, and the real interests of their constituents dead last.

I've never been particularly surprised by what republicans do, so that while they make me angry when they achieve power and can implement their destructive policies, they don't surprise me at all. It's the democrats who really disappoint me.

Tragically fucking spot on. I feel as if my hair is on fire and the rescue posse is throwing kerosene and a few cigarette butts. Jesus Gawd my cynicism meter is BROKE.

Who would you rather vote for - the guy who tells you he's going to fuck you or the guy who tells you he isn't going to fuck you but then he fucks you.

I feel like the democratic party has left me, not the other way around. But I have to add, that as sick as I am of always voting for the 'lesser of two evils,' if the repubs get back in power one more time, the damage they do will be incalculable. So, once again, in spite of claiming I wouldn't do this, I will go to the polls in 2010 & 2012 & vote democratic.

and dangers of corporate power, sneer at the "left" -- including all those Nader Haters who NEVER took responsibility for winning, or fighting for justice, in that election -- and act actually SURPRISED by this outcome.

We have what we were warned about: Government of the Corporations, By the Corporations, For the Corporations.

Excellent post. :bounce:

there will be no funadmental change.

The corporate takeover of this party is pretty far along, and many in the electorate don't seem to notice, care, mind... whatever.

proposed guarantee that pre-existing condition couldn't be excluded or result in increased premiums? If so, wouldn't that solve your problem?

Don't get me wrong, I am a single payer advocate but I do think we need to be honest in our debate. Obama has made it quite clear that he insists on a plan where nobody can be denied coverage or charged more due to pre-existing conditions.

I felt that President Obama was insistent on a public option. Given the buckling on the public option, I hold no great faith that pre-existing condition clauses will be addressed, either.

But really, the most important thing is that it's not about just me. Just because something addresses my needs doesn't mean that I should settle for it. There are lots of other people out there who really need the public option, or, for that matter, single payer. I'm concerned about them, too. If I am content with something that addresses my needs and hangs millions of other people out to dry, then I'm no better than any of the "I've got mine, screw you" Republicans.

pretend that the other issues being addressed aren't important.